


Take This Heart Away

by LupusScintilla (inkandblade)



Series: Bubblegum [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek Hale, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Derek Has A Cat, Gen, M/M, Medical Examination, Not Beta Read, Omega Stiles Stilinski, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-16
Updated: 2017-03-16
Packaged: 2018-10-06 03:11:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10324238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkandblade/pseuds/LupusScintilla
Summary: Derek swallowed and said quietly, “I think. I, um.” This was far more difficult to say that he’d thought it would be. He’d been dealing with the situation for almost two weeks. He’d practiced saying what he needed to tell Dr Deaton in the mirror last night and this morning, but he couldn’t manage to find the words now.♠See end note for info about the medical examination.





	

“Good afternoon, Alpha Hale. How can I help you today?”

Derek hadn’t been to see Dr Deaton since he was four years old and managed to eat some kind of toxic plant on his first ever fully-shifted moon run. All he could remember from that visit was nausea, the acrid taste of wolfsbane-ashes in his mouth, and the candy pop he was rewarded with after the fact.

On the other hand, Derek had taken his human little brother, Zeke, to Dr Norton’s plenty of times. Dr Deaton’s office looked the same as the one Dr Norton used, except for the fact that there was a thin line of mountain ash in the parquetry floor around Dr Deaton’s desk. The office didn't smell the same as the human doctor’s space, however, and for that Derek was glad. He was uncomfortable enough as it was. With the stink of betadine and alcohol wipes in his nose this visit would have been unbearable.

Dr Deaton was staring at him, his expression blank enough that Derek could at least pretend that the man looked concerned.

Derek swallowed and said quietly, “I think. I, um.” This was far more difficult to say that he’d thought it would be. He’d been dealing with the situation for almost two weeks. He’d practiced saying what he needed to tell Dr Deaton in the mirror last night and this morning, but he couldn’t manage to find the words now. “I’m,” he pushed his palms onto his thighs, rubbing absurd amounts of sweat off his skin.

Dr Deaton reached out, over the mountain ash line, and said quietly, “May I touch your skin, Derek?”

Derek heaved out a sigh of relief and nodded, hoping that being sub-verbal wasn’t going to contribute to Dr Deaton’s diagnosis.

The doctor reached a little further and put his palm on Derek’s forearm for a moment. He looked Derek in the eye as he let go and then silently motioned for permission to touch Derek’s face as well. Derek managed a tiny sign of assent in reply.

The back of Deaton’s hand was fresh against Derek’s sweat-slicked forehead and Derek was suddenly torn between wanting to press against it for comfort, and the urge to dab at his soggy hairline with a handkerchief again. Deaton sat back and Derek found himself leaning forward, chasing the Doctor’s cool skin. He caught himself, just before he leaned enough that he’d smack his knees into the mountain ash line.

Dr Deaton apparently picked up on just about everything. “I’m sorry about the ash line, Alpha Hale. I can move myself to be completely on your side of it if you like. It’s a rare patient that has anger or control issues, but unfortunately safety precautions are necessary even if one seldom needs to use them.”

Derek’s cheeks would probably be coloring in embarrassment, but right now they were tinged with the elevated temperature that was all the way through him, so it probably wasn’t noticeable. “It’s fine.” He breathed out, feeling calmer for some reason. “I just didn’t want to hit my knees.” He looked down so he didn’t feel like he was speaking out loud to another person, “I’m tender all over at the moment.” Pain wasn’t something that was easy for an Alpha Werewolf to admit.

Dr Deaton nodded and clicked open a file on his computer. Derek saw his name, designation, and birthdate in the corner, along with a note giving the date and reason of his last visit. He’d barely turned four when he’d eaten the poisonous plant, apparently.

The doctor had his fingers poised over the home-row on his computer keyboard. “How long have you been experiencing your current symptoms, Alpha Hale?”

Derek swallowed again, but it was a fairly easy question, so he said, “I think it’s been about two weeks. I’m having difficulties concentrating, but I’m pretty sure it’s been about that long. I had a day or two at work like this, but I’ve been off since then. I’m lucky I work with family.”

The noise of the keyboard clicking was quieter than Derek would have thought it should be, but it still set up a pounding in his brain.

“Derek.” Derek looked up and away from the doctor’s keyboard and fingers and focused on the man’s face again. “Your attention is definitely suffering. I’m going to list off some symptoms that I can see you have, and others I think you are probably also experiencing. Let me know if I’m wrong on anything, please.”

Derek managed to mouth, “okay,” and then sat forward a little, hoping that at the end of the list of symptoms Dr Deaton would have a diagnosis and, far more importantly, a cure, to tell him.

“You have a fever that has increased slowly over days, and you’re currently running several degrees over your regular temperature. You’re tender to the touch, especially if the touch is unwanted. Physical contact, from other people or animals, though, is probably calming.” He paused a moment, and Derek moved his head up and down in agreement. Derek hasn’t seen anyone in the last couple of days, but he’s been snuggling with his cat, Tchaikovsky, almost constantly, and when the doctor touched him a few minutes ago, he’d felt better. “That’s good, Alpha Hale. I think you’ve been craving a lot of protein and possibly sweets, but have been unable to finish the food on your plate. You’re having trouble concentrating, even on mundane things like television, and possibly find yourself looking for something without knowing what it is you’re after. The only real comfort from the recurring pain you have in your gut and head is when you’re asleep.”

Derek nodded, again, at those statements. There were four unfinished meat lover's pizzas and three ice cream tubs in his fridge. He hadn’t been able to make it through a favorite episode of _Whitechapel_ without getting up to do, well, something. He hadn’t known quite what. And, despite usually only needing about six hours a night, he’d been sleeping more than twelve or fourteen hours a day.

Deaton typed a few more notes, then leaned away from the computer and looked into Derek’s eyes again. “Can you add anything to what I’ve said? Is there anyone in particular you’ve seen in the last week or two that put you at particular ease? Is there anything you’re eaten that’s been particularly satisfying?”

These felt like easy things to answer, so Derek did. “I’ve been enjoying ice cream, which I don’t usually like. I didn’t have much, but…” He swallowed again. He wanted some now. “I let Laura come by to see me on Friday after work. She brought me a casserole and convinced me into going to dinner with her at our parent’s place last Sunday. I agreed, but only half an hour after she left I couldn’t face it anymore. I cancelled on her.”

“You and Laura work together, don’t you?”

“Yes and no,” Derek replied, then forced himself to say more, just in case it was important, “we both work in the family business, but Laura does more of the design side of things and I work mostly with contracting and supervision on build sites. We see each other every day, but not for that long.”

The doctor hummed, and then said, “well, given that and the fact that you've not disagreed with anything I've suggested, I have an easy diagnosis for you.”

Derek edged forward on his seat a little more. “Easy doesn’t mean bad, though?”

Dr Deaton actually smiled at him. “Not at all, Alpha Hale. Now, given that I’m also your sister’s doctor while she’s expecting, I know a few things about her immediate life at the moment. I’m going to be a bad practitioner and share my knowledge of her life while I’m treating you.”

Derek felt his brow scrunch. He had no idea what his sister’s growing belly had to do with him feeling sick. In fact, he’d rather thought that she’d been more of a welcome visitor than anyone else exactly as she was pregnant. Her scent at the moment was everything about Pack all rolled up into one breath; it was enough to put any Were at ease. “I don’t understand.”

“You’re experiencing what is known as a bond preparation pre-heat, Derek. It isn’t a common occurrence, happening in less that one percent of the population. When it does happen, it’s only in unmated Werewolf Alphas who’ve come into contact with someone that once upon a time would have been called their soulmate. Now we know that it’s a simple biological compatibility. It’s an extreme compatibility, however, so much so that if I didn’t encourage you to seek out the person in question, I’d be risking sanction from the Mage Council as well as the Medical Registrar.”

“But, I don’t.” Derek tried to think of if he’d met anyone new a couple of weeks ago. It would be hard to do even if his brain wasn’t hormone addled. Right now, he had no chance of remembering. “I need to remember who I might have met weeks ago? I have no idea. What if I can’t find them? I can’t—”

Dr Deaton actually chuckled. “Calm Derek, calm. Breathe in and out. Focus on your anchor. Your eyes have changed and your claws have come out. Breathe for me and I’ll tell you what else you know.”

Derek looked down at this hands and willed his claws back in, and hoped that meant he’d also gotten his eyes under control. He understood what Dr Deaton was saying about soulmates being an old-fashioned way to explain something that was now understood by science, but… He’d listened to too many of his Grandma Dahlia's stories to not want them to be true. She’d always told him that only Wolves truly blessed by the Spirits had a soulmate. He bit the inside of his cheek to stop blurting that out at the doctor. He breathed in and out and felt his heart rate start to even out.

He’d met his soulmate and he hadn’t realized. How the hell was he going to be able to find them now? He knew he didn’t actually believe in the Spirits, but what if they were real and they took offense at him not jumping at the chance to be with his destined Mate? He blinked a few moments and Dr Deaton came into focus in front of him, that maddening smile on his face still.

“Your pre-heat is definitely in reaction to an Omega, or you’d not be craving sweet foods.” He waited a moment until Derek raised an eyebrow, and then continued. “A week or two ago, on a Thursday, I had a standard check-up appointment with your older sister. We chatted, as usual, and she told me that she had a new assistant starting with her the Monday after. Now, I’d not normally remember such a thing, but the fact that she thought the Sheriff's son had grown up into a smart, able, and very handsome young Omega was something I needed to note so I could tease John Stilinski the night after at our weekly poker game.”

“I.” Derek remembered that Laura had done Skype interviews and picked a guy who’d just graduated from college. The guy wasn’t trained as an architect, but a design major with a lot of knowledge in the kinds of computer programs that would make Laura’s job easier. Derek hadn’t heard the new hire’s name, and he certainly hadn't been introduced. “I haven’t met her new assistant.”

Dr Deaton turned to face his computer again, and started clicking on boxes of some sort. “The young man has been in contact with Laura, which is how you’d have come in contact with his scent, and why she calmed you more than any other Pack member would have. A secondhand scent wouldn’t trigger the response you’re having if you hadn’t physically met him at some stage yourself, though. He’s only a few years younger than you. He was in Cora’s year at school, I think. You probably came across him then, or with your dealings with the Sheriff in high school.”

Derek didn’t want to think about that part of his life. He’d been through a truly stupid rebellious phase, and the Sheriff had been good enough to see that Derek was mostly just going along with his hot, idiot girlfriend. He probably had met the man’s son then. The Sheriff's wife had died early, and yes. Derek remembered seeing a skinny kid hanging around the station, always with his nose in a book or absorbed in handheld video game. The kid’s smile had been wide and startling.

“So, is there a treatment, or?”

Deaton grabbed a notepad off his desk and wrote, _1\. Physical_ , at the top. “You have a few options. Firstly, we could arrange a heat-partner for you. It would break the pre-bond you have, just as having sex with a non-bonded partner would do for an already bonded couple. In this case, however, you’re unlikely to be able to prevent the pre-bond from occurring again, as you’ll be exposed to the young man at work, and even just around town.” He added _2\. Medical_ , to the list on the notepad. “Secondly, I can chemically induce a full heat in you, then all but knock you out for the duration, and then we can discuss other options after. It would be a very long six weeks and not very pleasant.”

Derek snapped his head back. “Six weeks? Isn’t a full heat only a few days? I don’t really know any Omegas well enough to discuss things like this, but I’m pretty sure I’d have noticed them disappearing for a month and a half at a time.”

Deaton looked serious again. “A healthy, single Omega who is not taking suppressants will have a full heat every three or four months for approximately three or four days. It increases in number, but not length, once they are bonded. Any Omega on suppressants will have a semi-heat for around seven days every two or three months. It’s an uncomfortable week, but they deal with it, and usually work all the way through.” He typed a couple of things and brought up a pharmaceutical information sheet—like Derek had read for some of the things Zeke had taken—on the screen and waved at it as he said, “an Alpha in a bond preparation pre-heat is a completely different matter. The drugs I’d give you, while not exactly a suppressant, work in a similar manner. As there’s basically no way to tell if someone is going to need them beforehand though, they end up acting to fight a set of pre-existing hormones, not prevent them. An Alpha’s body really isn’t designed to deal with heats the way an Omega’s is. We simply aren’t as resilient. It’s probably why this only happens in a small percentage of the population—evolution was trying it’s hardest to stamp it out before we came up with chemicals to counteract it. It can take five or six weeks for the drugs to do what an Omega’s body does in a matter of days.”

Derek squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t like the idea of getting into bed with a random person at the best of times, but it was worse considering he’d not only be doing it while knowing he had a possible soulmate match, but also while knowing that it would probably not work for more than a day or two after anyway. He definitely didn’t like the sound of the chemical solution either. “Do I have any other choices?”

Deaton smiled again and added, _3\. Nature_ , to his list, and underlined it. “Stiles is a very likeable young man. Get home and get cleaned up. Eat some ice cream. Put on your best outfit and go see if your sister and her new assistant are free for lunch. Laura’s presence, especially while she’s pumping out all her pregnancy hormones, will stop you from doing anything stupid.”

“Stiles?” Derek had a vague recollection that the Sheriff’s kid had a weird name, but he couldn’t even remember what letter it started with.

“Exposure to his scent for an hour or so, even across a table, will help calm your body. It will dull the pre-heat to a far slower burn. Avoid being alone with him for a week or two, but make an effort to be around him every day at work. Ask him out on a date. And, and I can’t emphasize this strongly enough, tell him exactly why you’re doing what you’re doing as soon as possible. Stiles has grown into his inquisitive mind in a truly frightening manner. Don’t let him figure it out before you own up. He’ll forgive you eventually, but it won’t be pretty in the meantime.”

Derek sat back in the seat and tried not to rub his still sweating palms against his legs again. “I. Thank you, Dr Deaton.”

“Now, is there anything else I can help you with today, Alpha Hale?”

 

**Author's Note:**

> There is nothing graphic about the medical examination. There is some discussion of bodily functions and medications.
> 
> ♠  
> As writers we often use the A/B/O gender spectrum/designations to reflect or comment on gender and sexuality in the real world, but sometimes we fuck up when we do. If anything in this fic is offensive or triggering, it is not my intention. I’ve tried to tag as best I can; please let me know if I’ve missed anything.
> 
> ♠
> 
> This piece of Bubblegum was inspired by **Fever - Little Willie John:[Lyrics](http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/l/little_willie_john/fever.html) ** (this is the original set of lyrics, possibly not the one you know from more recent cover versions), **[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y27vBA68Zyk).**
> 
> Find me on [Tumblr](http://inkandblade.tumblr.com/).


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